Skin tone gap

 　　On May 17, despite the intrusion of the mutated virus from India, the United Kingdom further unblocked it. The biggest change is that you can meet with family and friends indoors, and parties allow two families. After a dry month in April, God seemed to have returned all the rain to the UK, and it was rainy and rainy in early and mid-May. The party moved from the garden to the indoors, and the warmth and coziness made the drinks smoother. Sitting around the table, many topics became more and more intensified, and sometimes the debate inevitably became intensified.

　　Charlie is a South African. His grandfather was originally an engineer from Scotland. In the 1930s, he was introduced by a friend to South Africa, working in a gold mine, getting married and having children. The conditions in the mine were difficult, and engineers often operated underground. He died of tuberculosis in less than sixty years.

　　16 years ago, the British girl Nita traveled to India and met Charlie. The two fell in love at first sight. Nita changed her ticket to stay in South Africa. A year later, the two married in South Africa and had a son. They moved back to the UK from South Africa more than ten years ago.

　　No wonder they have never discussed this topic for so many years.

　　If you close your eyes and listen to Nita's accent, she is a typical British with elite education, a private girls' school plus Cambridge University, a barrister of international law, and works in the most senior think tank in the UK. But when I opened my eyes and looked at her, I knew that her accent was too far from her appearance. She is an out-and-out Indian lady. Her parents are the first generation of immigrants from India to the UK. Since childhood, she has received a lot of discrimination, insults and abuse.

　　I went to their house for dinner the first weekend after the ban was unblocked. The topics ranged from "Black people's fate is also fate" to the financial support of each government under the epidemic. These two things are linked together. Charlie said that when the British government abolished black slavery, it also borrowed huge sums of money to compensate the slave owners. The last payment was only recently paid off. Everyone didn't believe it. They took out their mobile phones to search. Sure enough, in 1833, the British government used 40% of the national financial budget to redeem all the slaves of the British Empire. It was not until 2015 that the debt was paid off. Charlie was indignant and said: "I really didn't expect that after so many years, our taxpayers' money is still contributing to the emancipation of slaves." His joke immediately aroused Nita's alert, and the topic was the British Empire. And colonialism. 　　

    Let’s listen to a few conversations between them:

"Do you think colonialism is a thing of the past, and only the sins of those big company owners? This is wrong. You are all beneficiaries of colonialism. Your grandfather went to work in South Africa. Isn’t it because there is a foundation for colonialism."

　　"But my grandfather was an engineer. He went to work in South Africa and never exploited anyone."

　　"If there were no three hundred years of colonialism, he couldn’t have gone. Work in South Africa."

　　"He earns a salary to support his family. He can also work in Italy or Ireland. What is the difference?"

　　"Italy or Ireland is a sovereign country. If your grandfather goes to work there, he is an immigrant. He goes to work in South Africa. That's colonization."

　　"To be honest, if I grew up in Scotland, my life would be better. My house was robbed when I was six years old, and then I fell asleep in fear every day. As a white man in South Africa, and a child from childhood Compared to white children who grew up in the UK, the situation is simply too bad."

　　"But the life of black people in South Africa is much worse than that of white people. You have a gardener, nanny, and maid since you were young. This is a life you can't have in the UK."

　　"I also hate racial discrimination, and I have also opposed racial discrimination. Going to march to demonstrate, and was arrested and imprisoned for it."

　　"Your demonstration has not changed the reality that you also benefit from colonialism. You think that your anti-racism is for blacks, but in fact it is just to make you feel Good. The inherent discrimination and prejudice of white people can never understand dark-skinned people."

　　"Since I am the offspring of a colonist, how can you still live with me?"

　　In this way, the dialogue between the two began The discussion turned into a quarrel, and the color gap between the two suddenly appeared. No wonder they have never discussed this topic for so many years.